Budding Garden Thoughts
October 22, 2010
“Into autumn we travel,
looking to reds and golds.”
Copyright © 2010 Dianne Marie Andre
In and Around the Garden
Mostly about gardening, but also on country life, family and friends
“Into autumn we travel,
looking to reds and golds.”
Copyright © 2010 Dianne Marie Andre
In and Around the Garden 
You are absolutely correct in your color choice. We do associate reds and golds with the upcoming months.
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I have a Ghinko (hope I spelled that correctly) so I will add YELLOW. We bought it for the beautiful fall color. I must say this has been the slowest growing tree we have ever put in. It has been struggling along. This year it kept it’s leaves better than prior years, so hoping it will now be acclimated and start doing better.
I have noticed that with the start of our cooler weather the leaves are now starting to turn. Our Liquid Amber is coloring up beautifully.
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One of the disadvantage of living in the valley is that we do not get the beautiful fall colors that the colder region experience. Occasionally, we will get some color if the cold spell hits at the right time.
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That is so true Betty, but still Lodi has some beautiful trees and the crape myrtles look so beautiful when their leaves turn red and the birches with their gold. I would love to go to the East coast sometime and see those beautiful fall colors there. The pictures in magazines from that area are magnificent.
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My front yard is landscaped with crape myrtles. They were not very pretty this year. The bloom wasn’t there because our summer was so cool. The leaves are falling now and they are a ugly brown. My neighbor’s yard to the right is landscaped front and back with birches. This year is the worse ever for pollen and leaves falling from the birches all summer and it hasn’t stopped yet. Both our yards are covered with debris from the birches. I can’t go outside without something falling all over me. I am sick and tired of cleaning up after those darn birches. As for the color of gold, there has been only ONE year in which they were gold. I am afraid you won’t find a golden birch in the entire neighborhood. So much for beautiful fall colors. Sorry, wrong town.
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Lodi is well known for its trees, maybe not as well known as Chico which also has lots of mature trees. I meant to say Chinese Pistache with their beautiful red leaves in fall. I think one of the streets that I noticed the colors was Turner Rd. I am talking about past years colors. This year it is just starting and I will wait to see what happens.
Your travel into Autumn, Betty, doesn’t sound good so far.
I remember reading a book by Leo Bascaglia who wrote books on LOVE and he would get a laundry basket and fill it full of autumn leaves and bring it into his home and dump it out on his floor and just enjoy the leaves.
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Lodi is only 10 miles away from home. Every town has some colors. Some more than others.
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Dear Friends,
It wasn’t a good night for me and the day is taking a worse turn. I didn’t sleep, not one minute. The storm put a bug in my landline phone so it’s not working which means I can’t go online to post today’s blog. I’m at the library now, trying to post but WordPress won’t accept my password. On top of this, I locked myself out of the car. AAA saved the day, but it’s not over yet.
As soon as I solve the phone problems and I can get back online from my own safe house, you’ll hear from me. Until then, have a great day in and around your garden.
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As you mentioned, the day is not over yet. I hope the rest of your day will be better.
The storm brought us wind, rain, and power outage as well as tons of debris from fallen trees, branches, limbs, and leaves. We are all cleaning up after the storm. At least we got power back and the day is turning out to be a beautiful one.
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We miss your blog, always looking forward to what you have to say. Hope things improve for you!
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I was busy for part of the day picking up little branches, thankfully no big ones yet! Lots of leaves on the ground. Quite a mess. Didn’t expect so much rain and didn’t expect the wind to go with it.
I wonder what winter has in store for us?
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The last storm may be a sign of things to come. I spent all morning cleaning up the mess the storm left behind. My front lawn was covered with pine needles and birch leaves from my neighbor’s trees.
In the afternoon I picked up all the broken limbs and branches in the back. I then tried to clean the gutter and clear the clog in the down spout but failed. I gave up and finish mowing the lawn before calling it quit for the day. More chores for tomorrow.
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Autumn brings fall colors—bright or dull—with falling leaves. Until all the leaves from all the trees have fallen for the season, work will be on an ongoing basis. If you want your property to be well maintained, you’ll have to work at it regularly. If you want it to look naturally, you let nature takes its course. Unless you live in a restricted neighborhood that requires you to keep your property to a certain standard, you can do as you please. You can enjoy doing every day gardening or you can let someone else do the work for you if you don’t want to get your hands dirty. Gardening is many things to many people.
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I truly enjoy my garden. I would rather be outside doing something than inside. There are leaves or something else dropping off trees practically all year long. The day of the rain and wind I really missed being outside but I stayed in. Normally I work inside a bit and then go outside and work some. Then sit down and read a book to relax and start all over again. A half a flat of pansies are still waiting for me. I got two and a half flats planted but didn’t get those in before the rain.
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We are all gardeners at heart.
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For some gardening is relaxing; for others, it is a chore. You can make it whatever you want it to be at any given time. We can garden, relax, and still have fun doing it at the same time.
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We went to Placerville and Camino today to Apple Hill. Saw some trees turning that beautiful red which stood out against the backdrop of trees still green. It was a lovely drive.
At one of the farms tasted an apple I had never heard of – a MUSU. It was green skinned, crisp, and sweet. It reminded me in taste of a Fuji.
We paid out dues – visited three of the farms, bought Granny Smith apples to make an apple crisp. Cider for Thanksgiving (hope it keeps!)
Also bought a stalk of brussels sprouts like Dianne showed in her blog a while back. My husband doesn’t like them, so guess who has to eat them? I love them.
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If anyone is planning on going to Apple Hill I would recommend these three farms: Honey Bear Ranch – because it has pulled pork sandwiches. They cook a pig in the open on a spit (Poor thing still has its head and the teeth) Good thing my granddaughters weren’t there to see that!! Boa Vista Farms is one of the main farms and their apples are reasonably priced and looked very nice. Third, High Hill Ranch which has lots of craft booths. I especially liked the jewelry booth. My friend and I each bought a necklace. Next year I would like to go back and buy a couple for gifts.
There are more craft booths open on the weekends than on weekdays. Even though we went on a weekday, we were happy.
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We visit Apple Hill every year. It is a great place to visit. We always bring home a big apple pie or two.
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